Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These gluten and dairy free chocolate chip cookies are the simplest recipe ever! So quick and easy to make and such a tasty treat, perfect to pair with a mug of coffee in the morning or as a mid afternoon treat. These can also be made in advance and the batter frozen in small balls portioned out per cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

DF: Dairy Free

GF: Gluten Free

Recipe Tips

Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are made with dark chocolate and a have gluten- and dairy-free option to cater for many dietary needs without compromising on flavour. These cookies feature rich, velvety dark chocolate chips that melt into the dough, creating pockets of intense, bittersweet delight in every bite. Using gluten-free flour ensures that those with gluten sensitivities can enjoy these cookies, while oil replaces traditional butter. The result is a cookie that is not only deliciously indulgent but also inclusive, allowing everyone to partake in the joy of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Whether you’re adhering to a gluten-free, dairy-free diet or simply looking for a healthier alternative, these cookies are a perfect solution for satisfying your sweet tooth.

Oil

Let’s talk about the oil in these cookies. Now, it seemed really odd to me when I first used oil in my cookie recipe, but I’d been struggling for ages to bake a good cookie after making the swaps to make them gluten and dairy free.

I remember back at university my housemates and I discovered a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. Unfortunately, this recipe predates my intolerances so I was really sad when I couldn’t bake it anymore.

Never letting that stop me, the cookie experiments began! To my horror, at first my gluten and dairy free cookies were dry and cakey. I was pulling my hair out trying all sorts of baking powder/bicarbonate of soda and caster/granulated/brown sugar ratios to try and counteract the cakeyness with no avail. Although this did allow me to perfect those ratios (more about that later).

I was feeling all together pretty glum about my cookies and putting the change of texture down to the gluten free flour as I’d assumed it would be a straight swap from butter to margarine as it was with all my cake baking. However, I started to wonder if it wasn’t the flour at fault after all, especially after seeing all the perfect looking gluten free cookies posted by other bakers on their pages (these all of course used butter, something I couldn’t do).

Eureka moment

I decided to experiment with oil instead of margarine after seeing a cake box to cookie converting recipe that used oil. I was so glad I did! The batter consistency is totally different and quite runny, but the cookies came out great! I was so happy, finally I had gotten past my cookie blues. These even passed a blind taste and texture test from my husband who is lucky enough to have no food intolerances so he could try both the normal flour and butter, and gluten free flour and oil versions. To my surprise and delight he preferred the gluten free dairy free option!

Check out my Use Oil in Your DF Cookies blog for more comparisons!

Chocolate chips

My money saving tip is that I never buy expensive chocolate chips for my baking! I always buy cheaper supermarket chocolate bars and chop them up into nice small chocolate chips myself. I also think they taste much better and I like how some of the chunks are bigger than others – some are nice and chunky while others almost melt into the cookie.

Sugar

Now, bake to those ratios. For my cookies I like to use 50:50 light brown sugar to granulated sugar. Brown sugar adds a great caramel flavour, while the granulated sugar is neutral in flavour but pairs well with salt in baking to allow the other flavours to come through. Furthermore, brown sugar causes the cookies to spread thin while the more coarse granulated sugar will take longer to melt and delay the spreading. I find a 50:50 ratio creates the best of both worlds for flavour and texture!

​Baking Soda

Additionally, brown sugar is acidic, and therefore work well with alkaline baking soda; when the two combine, they produce carbon dioxide which is the raising agent that creates that perfect cookie consistency. This is why my cookies use bicarbonate of soda rather than baking powder. Baking powder can also delay the spreading of the cookies and make a more cakey consistency.

Try the Coffee and Walnut Cookies

This recipe is adaptable for dairy free and gluten free dietary requirements but it’s also great with an option for normal diets too. These cookies are the simplest recipe ever! So quick and easy to make and such a tasty treat.

Rebecca K.

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